Alchemy
(noun)
: a seemingly magical process of transformation, creation or combination (Oxford)
What happens after a particularly bad date and you come rushing in for a prep call with your business partner, Sherry Essig?
Well…
a little bitching about the state of dating in ones’ 50’s
some reminiscing about other dates gone bad
a lot of laughter
and more than a bit of alchemy…turning a not-super-fun situation into business, and life topics
In the dating scene, you are “putting yourself out there” in MANY ways. This is so similar to the way we work, live, and interact on a regular basis.
For instance, how authentic are you at work? I know for me, I was soooo inauthentic when I was trying to be impressive. The problem? They never got to see the real me, so, frankly, I wasn’t all that impressive. They got the sepia-tone version of what I thought an executive was supposed to be, instead of the technicolor brilliance of who I really am.
Recently I had the opportunity to join a board meeting with one of my clients. I was nervous, wanting to do a good job, put my client in the best light, and meaningfully help the board. The sepia-tone version of me would have come in, sat ramrod straight, and I would have tried to figure out the "right" thing to say.
Instead, when I came in, I noticed there was a funky energy in the room (I was also privy to a somewhat heated debate that I knew had happened earlier). I asked the chair of the board if she would like to do a brief meditation to shift gears before we began. Some of the Wall Street eyebrows in the room shot up at this suggestion, but she agreed and they got the REAL me instead of the how-do-I-impress-these-people me. When we began our discussion, there was a noticeable difference in the room, although a couple of those NY folks were probably still wondering who this kooky Californian was!
When you try to morph into someone else’s ideal, it never works out well. If you are simply trying to meet someone else’s expectations, or you think you already know how the story is written, you miss out on the possibility for serendipity. Being yourself facilitates the potential of magic in any interaction.
And that is how we got to today’s podcast episode…
we were supposed to be talking about work, but I needed to release the irritation of this particular date.
As a result, we both started sharing funny stories and relating dating to other things in life
And today’s episode was born: The Alchemy of the Purple Boots.
It’s a funny one 😊
Check it out here, https://lnkd.in/gWEYdYAZ (or wherever you listen to podcasts), and share your thoughts on how alchemy, magic, and serendipity play out in your world.
